Sacrifices for Dreams
by Tapangwa
Summary: Oneshot. what would you do if you achieved your dream, but then felt miserable? ZADR


Tapan: wow, it's been a bit since I wrote something for FFN!

Torna: well, you've been busy.

Jhkitty: yeah, you actually have had a life!

Tapan/sarcastic/ gee, thanks. I feel soo loved. Anyway, this idea came from a picture on DA. It is pretty n.n!

Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim, but I have a plan to get it! I will wait until Jhonen's sleeping and take the paperwork from him!

Jhkitty: no you won't!

Warning: ZADR (shock!) and a little OOC.Plus a Tallest Zim. Flame if you wanna, as always.

* * *

Zim looked out the bridge of the massive, into the stars. His arms crossed along the chest of his royal armor as he watched space. Maybe if he looked far enough, he could see the earth.

It had been years, by Earth's count, since he took the thorn from the former Tallests. He had done it out of revenge, to make them pay for the humiliation they put him through.

So, he devised a way to make himself taller, using a bit of the human DNA and wiring the code into his PAK. Sure, it was cheating, but he never played fair to begin with.

He did make them pay, but he didn't kill them. They were pushed to a primitive planet, with no form of technology to get off the rock. Zim almost didn't expect to become the next tallest but he was, after all, an inch taller than the former leaders. Obviously, that was enough.

The new crimson tallest put his hand up to the window protecting him from the vacuum of space. The duel fingers scraped out the window. He never thought he'd miss a planet as filthy as Earth. But he did; it was his home before he knew it was also his prison.

He shook his head. It wasn't the planet that grew on him. It was its self-appointed protector.

Dib.

He let his hand fall from the pane, sighing. He remembered the human's expression the last time he saw him.

_The boy was a teenager at the time, about seventeen years old. His honey brown eyes looked up at the former invader --Yes, up. He made himself taller than Dib— depressed confusion in them. It took a moment for him to speak._

_"I'm not too sure I'm following what you're saying." The boy hugged GIR to his chest like a teddy bear._

_Zim sighed. "I'm leaving the planet. You won't have to worry about me trying to take over anymore." He touched the robot's arm. "And I'm leaving GIR with you. He'll be better off with you on Earth than with me."_

_The dysfunctional SIR unit stayed uncharacteristically quiet, simply watching the exchange from his spot in Dib's arms._

_The boy didn't look happy, like Zim expected. Instead, he looked crushed. The irken could see tears beginning to form in his eyes._

_Zim blinked at the sight of them. It was clear that Dib was full of surprises. And it was just about to get even clearer._

_The human put GIR on the floor before throwing himself against the irken, causing Zim to almost fall over. "Please don't leave me!" his grip tightened as if he could stop him._

_The irken returned the gesture loosely and halfheartedly. "I have to. I don't belong here, and there's something I must do."_

_The paranormalist didn't look up. "Then take me with you."_

_Zim chuckled humorlessly. "There's no way you'd survive out there with me."_

_A sniffle was heard. "Yes I would." He could hear the glare in Dib's words._

_The irken shook his head a little and pulled the boy away from him firmly. "No, you have to stay here and protect your people from real threats. You'll be better off without me."_

_The human frowned and pushed Zim's arms out of the way in order to move up and press his lips on the irken's._

_Zim paused, shocked by the action. He stayed completely silent as Dib pulled back and looked him in the eye. He couldn't believe the next words that came out of the boy's mouth._

_"I won't be better off! You're all that I have."_

_He paused, blinking. This was a very surprising turn of events! "And now you have GIR."_

_Dib looked down at the little robot, who smiled and waved at him. He smiled back weakly before turning back to face the alien. Sighing, he shrugged off his coat and folded it slightly before pushing it into Zim's arms._

_He didn't question the human; he just took the coat that was handed to him. He understood; now they both had something to remember the other by. Such silly human traditions but he accepted it anyway._

"My tallest." He snapped out of his stupor and looked down at the small pilot who called to him. "There's some…thing here to see you."

He blinked and looked up at the door just as a large gray blob "walked" into the room. The tallest sighed and looked down at the pilot. "I can take it from here." He floated up to the blob.

The blob glared at Zim and began speaking in a different language, which the irken spoke back flawlessly. He stayed calm the whole time, even when the other alien screamed and threatened to hurt him.

That was around the time he was pulled away and thrown out the airlock.

Sighing, Zim plopped himself down on one of the many couches on the Massive. And to think, this was his dream!

He never knew he could be so miserable. He needed to do something, and he knew exactly what to do.

He snapped his head in the direction of the pilots. "Set the destination for planet Earth."

The pilots paused and looked at each other. Everyone knew of their leader's exile to that planet. Why would someone want to go back to their prison?

"Um, sir?" one of the pilots was brave enough to question the tallest slightly, earning himself a glare, the smaller irken squeaked in response before bowing in apology and returning to his work.

Zim watched as his ship moved through space, pulling the black trench coat out of its hiding spot and pet it lightly, eagerly waiting for the blue planet to make its appearance.

* * *

As the massive landed in a field, Zim turned off his hovering device, allowing him to touch the ground before opening the door and running from the ship, trench coat still in his grasp.

The smaller irkens watched him run from the ship, surprised how excited the irken leader was to be back on this ball of waste and poison.

Zim paused as he took his first steps outside the ship. He rolled his eyes as he realized the ship was landed in a cornfield near a small barn. He smiled to himself as he saw a couple of black cars head his way. If he knew the human like he thought he did, Dib would be in one of those cars. And so, Zim ran toward them, deeper into the cornfield as he did so.

He slid to a stop in order to keep himself in the cornstalks, to avoid being seen as he watched three paranormal investigators, and one small green dog, get out of the car. Zim blinked as he saw the green puppy walk along merrily at one of the paranormalist's legs. He followed the leg up to see the rest of the human until he hit the long scythe lock perched at the top.

Careful not to make too much noise, he watched and followed them toward the ship he just left.

He watched Dib pause as he saw the ship, smiling as the boy –man, now- blinked, his glass-covered eyes widened.

He turned to his companions. "I'll take it from here." He looked down at GIR and nudge his head to the ship.

GIR nodded and ran ahead, little feet squeaking as he did so. Once he was out of the other investigators' sights, his little puppy hood popped off, a satellite coming from his head. The little device moved back and forth, searching.

After a moment, he turned back to the human and shook his head, speaking as if he were in duty mode. "There is no irken by the name of Zim on this ship." The puppy hood returned back to its position covering his head.

Zim watched as Dib hung his head, looking depressed again. He couldn't stand to see his former enemy this way. So, he straightened up and moved to walk out of his hiding spot but stopped when the two others moved up to the ship.

One stood over near Dib, touching his shoulder, sensing his depression.

The other moved around the ship, inspecting it and keeping an eye out for anything living on board.

"What's wrong? Got overly excited?"

"…Yeah, you could say that."

"Ah, don't let it get ya down, kid. There will be plenty of aliens for you to see."

"Yeah, I know, Bill. But--"

"Guys!" the third man waved them over. "Something's moving in the ship!"

They walked over as one of the pilots walked out cautiously. "Umm, hello."

Wow, he was a brave little guy. Dib looked up at him and asked a simple question. "Where are your leaders?"

The irken blinked. "My tallest ran from the ship as soon as we landed."

Tallest? As in only one? "Do you know where he ran to?"

The irken pointed across the cornfield and down the path Zim was on less than ten minutes ago.

Zim looked down the path and blinked just in time to hear one of the other men callout. "Dib! Where are you going?"

The tallest turned to see the human running into the crop field. Smiling, Zim ran after him, loving the unintentional game of cat and mouse.

The irken caught up to him pretty quickly, finding him in the middle of the field, glancing around wildly. "Dib!"

The human turned just in time for the tallest to circle his arms around him, at the color he saw, his first guess was this irken was Tallest Red.

But why would a leader, who's seen him at a glance once years and years ago, be hugging him?

Dib pulled away, confused. His expression stayed that way until he saw the alien's face. "Zim!"

The tallest smiled. "It's been awhile."

"You're the--!"

Zim nodded.

The human blinked up at him, honey eyes glistening with unshed tears. After a moment of staring, Dib let out a small growl and beat on Zim's chest. "You left me here! Do you know how long I waited for you to come back." He gave up beating on the armor and began to sniffle. "You idiot!" he leaned his head against the tallest chest and sobbed.

Zim sighed and wrapped his arms around the man's, just holding him. He nuzzled the top of Dib's head, taking in the feeling of the human's hair.

They stayed that way until Dib's co-workers found them. Zim looked up at them and blinked.

Hearing the shuffling behind him, he turned and saw them watching the two. Snapping back into reality, he pulled himself out of the alien's arms and cleared his throat.

The men just watched the exchange, until Bill spoke. "What's going on?"

Zim blinked and looked at Bill, then to Dib, then back at Bill.

Dib scratched the back of his head and wiped the tears from his eyes, feeling a little foolish.

Before the issue could be pressed any further, GIR pushed himself through and looked up at the irken, gasping. "Mastah!" he ran over and clung to the crimson robe, nuzzling the material.

Zim chuckled at his former sidekick and just let him rub his little head against his leg.

Bill took the opportunity to speak. "What's your business here?" by his tone; one could tell he was suspicious of the irken's motives

Zim looked over at the human, a blank expression on his face. "I came for one thing, and then I will leave this planet in peace." He looked over at Dib. "That is, if he's willing to come."

Dib's eyes widened, knowing what the tallest was saying. "Zim… I can't. I finally have what I've dreamed about since I was a kid!"

The irken nodded. "I do too. And if you feel the same way I do, you're not happy." He stepped closer. "What's the point in achieving your dreams if you're miserable?"

Dib blinked, finding it hard to think of an answer for Zim. He found it even harder when the irken kissed him. His eyes lulled closed, savoring the moment.

Although the kiss was short lived. Zim pulled away reluctantly and pushed the trench coat into the human's arms. "I believe this belongs to you."

Dib took it then looked back up at the irken, confused.

Zim smirked, the old invader shined through those ruby eyes. "Now join me in space, or I'll destroy your planet."

Dib laughed at the demand, then made the easiest decision of his life. He hugged the irken then pulled away, still smiling. "Of course, but only to save the Earth."

Zim chuckled. It was like their past of being enemies was some sort of inside joke now, and maybe it was.

The human grabbed onto Zim's gauntlet and began to tug him to the ship, obviously eager to leave. The irken snickered and trotted up next to him. GIR followed his masters without hesitation; happy to see them back together.

This left the two other paranormalists to watch them leave.

Bill stared, mouth gaped as his former apprentice walked away with the alien leader. "That was unexpected."

The other guy nodded, agreeing.

The entrance to the ship opened as the tallest, the human and the robot walked in, all three smiling.

After they all settled in, Zim looked up at the pilots. "Take us away."

The irken saluted and pressed a few buttons before lifting off and leaving earth's atmosphere.

Zim turned to see Dib looking out the window, his palm against the pane as the planet disappeared. Zim cocked an eye; was the human regretting his decision?

Dib looked over at Zim and smiled. As if he could read his mind, he spoke. "I just wanted to see the earth fade into the stars."

Zim nodded, understanding. "It may be a while until you see it again."

"If ever."

The irken smiled. "Exactly." He then moved and sat on the couch, looking over at Dib and smiling before reaching out, grabbing the boy by the wrist and pulling him over to his lap. Once the human plopped down on him, the alien nuzzled at his neck.

The human tilted his head for Zim before speaking. "Your pilots are watching us."

The tallest nipped at Dib's neck, caring less about the other irken's in the room. "Let them stare."

* * *

Tapan: that was fun! Don'tcha think?

Torna: eh, could've been more so.

Tapan: T.T. well, I was listening to The Freshman by Verve Pipe as I wrote this. The song is now stuck in my head

Jhkitty: I think I'm going to go buy more souls from that creepy lady on the corner now.

Torna: o.O what?

Tapan: Uum, hehe. Well you know what I want now so R&R and I promise you all Pop Tarts and teddy bears!


End file.
